Play With Fire
by Nine Days a Queen
Summary: In that instant, she realized something. The reason, above all others, why he should hate her. - A set of ten Irene-centric song prompts.


**Title: Play With Fire**

**Author: ninedaysaqueen **

**Beta: thelasteddis - Thank you, my dear! **

**Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of **_**The Thief**_**, **_**The Queen of Attolia**_**, **_**The King of Attolia**_**,**_** A Conspiracy of Kings**_**, nor of any characters, locations, and elephants contained within. All rights of the **_**Queen's Thief**_** series belong exclusively to Megan Whalen Turner and her respective publishers.**

**Spoilers: Books 1, 2, and 3.**

**Rating: G/K **

**Genre: Angst/General/Romance**

**Word Count: 700 (approximate) - Excluding author's notes.**

**Summary: A set of ten Irene-centric song prompts chosen at a relatively random order. It's a writing challenge thing.**

**Author's Notes: Title is taken from lyrics that appear in **_**Victims of Love**_** by **_**Good Charlotte**_**. Fair warning, the prompts are more based on the song title than the song's theme or lyrics. It's a muse thing.**

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**Victims of Love – Good Charlotte**

He was insane. He couldn't love her. He was her enemy. Her rival. She had broken him. Maimed him. He should hate her as much as she hated herself, but as she looked at him from across the altar, it wasn't doubt she saw in his eyes.

In that instant, she realized something. The reason, above all others, why he should hate her. She had turned him into a victim.

In more ways than one.

**The Howling – Within Temptation**

The rain bashed the window pane angrily, as if something was trying to get inside. To get to her. To get _at_ her and her slim throat. She leaned back from her desk and listened to the wind howl.

Something was coming. She already knew that. But she knew it wasn't the wind and rain that were the real threats. They were merely heralds of the thunder to come. She sighed.

**Underneath This Smile – Hilary Duff**

She smiled as the Mede knelt and kissed her hand. Her rubies glittered like spots of blood in the torchlight. His emeralds gleamed like the new grass of spring.

If only he knew her smile was rarely a good thing.

**Life in Technicolor – Coldplay**

She could see it all so clearly as she twirled beneath the leaves of the orange grove, dipping her hands in the moonlight that shone through the gaps in the branches. Family. Friends. Love... But as her breath ran out and faded from her lungs, so did the images shimmer and vanish in the silver mist. She stumbled and sat ungracefully upon the ground. Panting.

She understood. Yes, she did. She understood why her father barely glanced at her. She understood why her brother had ignored her. She understood perfectly why her nurse had left her and never came back.

She understood... Didn't she?

**King of Pain – Alanis Morissette**

Her king was in pain. She saw how he clutched his side, and how his guard leaned down to support him. He was turned away from her, cursing and muttering under his breath. She saw blood on his hand, and suddenly, she was not on a stairwell surrounded by sputtering attendants and nervous guards. It was just her and her husband. With a fire too large for the room.

She stretched out a hand to touch him. She shouldn't have been surprised when he flinched.

**Comatose – Skillet**

She couldn't move. Something was crushing her lungs and stiflingly the air in her throat. She tried to scream, but she only managed to gasp his name. Her fingers clutched the sheets, but the silk was soon replaced by a warm hand. The weight disappeared from her throat, and her lungs drank their fill of precious air.

_Shh... Hush, dear._

The words were just a whisper in the shell of her ear, yet they were as welcome as cool water on a hot day.

_Just a bad dream. And here I thought I was the only one allowed to have those._

**Invisible – Taylor Swift**

They never saw her. It was laughable, really. How easy it all was. Pick up the leaves. One at a time. Count them. Hide them. Grind them into powder. Sprinkle the dust into the golden goblet. Smile as her husband chocked and died. Invisible. That's what she was.

But not for long...

**Gypsy Woman – Hilary Duff**

She didn't have a home. She had a palace and a throne and swords at her beck and call. She tried to convince herself she needed nothing more.

**This Land in Mine – Dido**

_It's all yours now. The olive groves, the palaces, the fancy dinners... The dogs..._

He laughed.

_Ours. I'm certain you mean. You're not getting out of sharing that particular burden. I'm not cleaning up after all those dogs by myself._

She smiled.

**Beautiful Disaster – Kelly Clarkson**

The cheer of the crowd was deafening. Attendants, guards, courtiers, and servants. They all screamed as one voice. One voice for the king. She smiled down at him from her seat.

He was panting. Exhausted. Covered in sweat and kicked up dust and dirt. Running his fingers through his dark hair, he looked up at her and smirked.

Eddis had been right. What a disaster...

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**Thank you for reading,**

**Ninedaysaqueen**


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